by River Ramsey
“You idiot!” she seethed, stalking over to him. Thor lunged like he was ready to intervene, but rather than run him through, she pierced the ground just shy of him and stormed out of the simulation room before the illusion around us had even faded.
Seeing a door open in the middle of the desert was a bit too surreal for my brain to handle, and I felt nauseous. Daphne and I just stared at each other in confusion as Thor waved a hand, dissipating the simulation.
I finally walked over to Phrixus, who was still on the ground, and offered my hand. “Are you alright?”
He stared at my hand and scowled, getting to his feet on his own. He stalked out without a word the way his sister had come and Thor called after him, “Don’t forget you have kitchen duty tonight!”
I sighed heavily. Like there was anything that could make it more unpleasant.
15
Kore
"You have kitchen duty with Phrixus?" Dionysus asked, grimacing distastefully as he sat perched on the end of my bed. "My sincerest condolences."
"Come on. He's not that bad," I sighed, combing out my wet hair. I'd estimated just enough time to shower and change after class, and I wasn't eager to wash dishes in my uniform. I felt comfortable enough changing in front of Dionysus and he had already changed in front of me, despite the fact that his ripped bod was probably a hell of a lot more intriguing to me than mine was to him.
"Who are you trying to convince? I've gone to school with him for the last ten years."
I turned to him, blinking. "You guys went to high school together?"
"Unfortunately," Dionysus snorted. "Long enough to know he sucks at Frenching, and to know he's way too close to his twin to be anyone's boyfriend."
"So I've heard," I snorted, setting my brush down to grab my makeup bag.
"Wait, what?" Dionysus asked, squinting suspiciously. "What exactly did you hear?"
I hesitated. "You mean you don't know about them and Loki?"
His eyes widened. "Loki and the twins? Seriously?"
I pursed my lips, realizing I'd made a mistake from the look on his face. It was clear to me by then that Dionysus' interest in Loki was more than a passing crush, and whatever had happened between them in the past was complicated, to say the least.
"I shouldn't have said anything."
"Come on, you can't do that to me," he protested. "I need the ugly details."
"I don't know much, just what Daphne told me," I confessed. "She said they dated and Helle's still hella hung up on his D."
"Well, that I understand," he said, rolling his eyes. "I'm surprised Daphne told you. Didn't she… well, try to kill you?"
"I guess not. So she says, anyway."
"Do you believe her?"
I took a second to think about it and shrugged. "Honestly, I kind of do. But even if she's lying, I'm not in a position to turn down allies."
He blew a strand of golden hair off his face. "That's for damn sure."
"Come on," I said, holding up a glittery black T-shirt. "Help me pick out something that looks good with a hairnet."
"How about a funeral suit?"
I flipped him off and dropped my towel to pull on a sports bra, just in case any of Hades' minions decided to challenge me to an impromptu duel. Everyone in this place was on a hair trigger.
By the time I pulled the T-shirt over my head, I realized Dionysus was looking at me like a deer in headlights.
"What? I know you like dudes, but I'm sure you've seen tits before," I snorted, shimmying into a snug jean shirt.
He looked away and the flush on his cheeks was suspiciously intense. "Yeah, whatever. Just be careful. Helle's the queen bitch in their relationship, but Phrixus still has claws."
"I'll be on guard," I assured him, leaning against the wall. "Truth be told, I'm starting to think this Wild Hunt thing isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be."
"Famous last words," he warned, back to his usual self. "Then there's the fact that you're Hades' fiancée."
"You think he's going easy on me?" I wasn't sure why the thought enraged me as much as it did.
Dionysus shrugged. "I'm just saying, it complicates things. The consequences go beyond the Hunt itself. I assume Cronus is the one who arranged the marriage?"
"Well, yeah. Why does that matter?"
"No one wants to cross Hades, but they want to anger Cronus even less," said Dionysus. "You might use that to your advantage."
"Namedrop my future father-in-law? No, thanks."
"Just because you didn't ask to play the game doesn't mean you don't have to follow the rules," he said cryptically. "If I were you, I'd find a way to use them."
"Hiding behind other people's clout isn't really my thing."
"No, I suppose not," Dionysus mused, his eyes glimmering.
"What's that look?"
"Nothing. I just knew the moment we met, we were going to be friends."
"Secret friends," I clarified.
He grinned. "Doesn't that make it more fun?"
I rolled my eyes, but I was starting to read into the flirtatious tone he always used and that was the last thing I wanted. My friendship with Dionysus was the only thing about my life at the Academy that wasn't complicated and I wanted to keep it that way.
"You can hang around if you want, but I've gotta get to the kitchen," I told him. "Just lock up when you're done."
"Will do," he promised.
I knew things hadn't gotten any better between Dionysus and his roommate, and I could see why. I'd only run into Atlas a few times, and he was the only young god who seemed to have his head so far up his ass that he wasn't even aware of the Hunt, but he was a jerk all on his own.
Once I made it to the kitchen, I wasn't the least bit surprised to find a mountain of dishes waiting for me and no Phrixus. I rolled up my sleeves, put on an apron and started washing. At least I had my earbuds on me. Music made the repetitive chore tolerable and the mindless task let my thoughts drift to other things, like plotting revenge against the Triad.
I was halfway through the crowded sink before long and I'd whipped up a steady rhythm, dancing across the kitchen to put the clean plates on the drying rack. As I stepped back, I found a hard wall of human and was surprised when I turned around to see Phrixus staring at me with that half-smug, half-apathetic expression on his face and his hands in the pockets of his slacks.
Not a huge surprise that he wasn't the jeans type even after class was over.
"Enjoying yourself?"
I took out my pods and gave him a dirty look. "Had to pass the time somehow since you bailed on me."
"Dishes aren't really my thing," he said, eyeing the half-finished stack behind me.
"So why did you come?"
"Our badges register every time we enter a room with a security panel," he said, pointing to the panel I'd missed on the door. "I don't feel like getting a lecture tomorrow afternoon."
"And if I tell Thor you did jack all to help?"
"There's no need to be that way," he purred, taking a step toward me. I was about to give him a knee to the groin if he got any further into my bubble, but he stepped past me and took a dish in his hand. All the grime slid off, revealing the gleaming white surface underneath. I watched in fascination as he started stacking the clean plates on the rack next to the sink.
"Creative use of your power," I remarked.
"Resurfacing doesn't sound like much on paper, but I find ingenuity is the greatest gift of all," he said, setting another plate aside.
"Is that even sanitary?" I asked warily.
He glanced back over his shoulder. "Do you want to spend all night doing this?"
"Fair enough," I sighed, leaning against the counter since I found myself suddenly out of a job. "So, resurfacing. That's what you call your power?"
"Good of a name as any," he answered, his back still turned. "What do you call yours?"
"I haven't really come up with anything yet," I admitted. He made no further attempt at conversation, and
my curiosity finally won out. "Can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"Why did you save me from that pit during the simulation?"
"For the same reason you saved me, I assume. I didn't want to spend my night here."
"That's not why I did it," I mumbled. "And you sure didn't seem to care about winning before."
He finally glanced back at me, an unreadable look in his eyes. He was different when he was away from his sister. More thoughtful, somehow. He turned away, leaning against the sink to face me. "I'll tell you what. You give me an honest answer, and I'll give you one."
"Fine. I have a savior complex and I wasn't going to let my teammate get taken out without a fight."
"Not that," he said dismissively. "Why did you strike Hades? At the party," he said, as if he needed to clarify. Like I just went around bitchslapping the god of the Underworld.
I thought of lying, and there was no real reason not to. Maybe it was just the fact that I'd done so much of it lately, and it was finally a chance to tell the truth to someone who didn't care with no real consequence.
"He said something that pissed me off about someone I love," I finally answered.
"I see," he murmured, slinking closer. "And was it worth it?"
I watched him warily. "That's two questions."
The smile on his lips was unexpectedly seductive. He really was different on his own, or maybe I was just desperate. Either way, when he cornered me against the counter, pushing him away wasn't as high up on my priority list as it should have been.
"I suppose it's your turn to ask a question," he murmured. He was so close I could feel his cool breath on my lips, and the sensation was such a distraction I scarcely noticed his hand on my hip. "Just be sure it's the one you really want to ask."
Funnily enough, I had changed my mind. "The sim room," I muttered. His charm was a bit easier to resist once I remembered the fall. "Whose idea was that?"
His gaze softened, and the guilt within it seemed far more genuine than I wanted it to. "Do you really need to ask that?"
"Do you do everything your sister tells you?" I shot back.
He glanced away. "I didn't mean for it to go as far as you did. For you to get hurt."
"What did you think was going to happen when you sent me flying off a goddamn cliff?"
He winced slightly, and if I'd blinked, I would've missed it. "I don't suppose you'd believe me if I said I was sorry."
I considered it for a moment before deciding I did, for better or worse. "I believe you. Ask me if it matters."
"And there's nothing I can do to change your mind?" he asked with a smoldering gaze. All of a sudden, I could see how the great Loki himself had fallen for it once upon a time.
I swallowed hard, rallying my restraint. He was the last damn person I ever thought I'd need it with, that was for sure. "Why do you care what I think? I'm just the Rabbit," I said dryly.
That glimmer came back into his eyes. "I thought so at first," he murmured, tilting my chin toward him. His touch was smooth and cool, just like the rest of him. "But now, I know the truth."
"Which is?" I asked, finding it hard to remember how to breathe.
"You're a wolf," he purred, his words and lips a whisper against mine. "In rabbit's clothing, perhaps, but a wolf nonetheless. Truth be told, I wouldn't mind seeing the tables turned for a change."
There was something genuine about his words, as inexplicable as the heat in my core, and I found myself caving against him as our lips finally collided with all the tension we'd been hanging on for the last few minutes. He tasted like winter and his hair was smooth as silk as my hands found it.
As we explored each other's mouths, I let his tongue slip into mine and he lifted me up onto the counter with surprising ease. Guess he was stronger than he looked. I felt his hand slipping up my side, his fingers teasing the bare skin under my shirt as if for permission, and I let him, pulling him in to deepen the kiss.
It had been a long damn time since I'd properly made out with a guy, and with the Triad breathing down my neck, it wasn't like I had many opportunities. Technically, Phrixus was the last guy I should have wanted, but it felt like a middle finger to Helle and Hades and I wasn't above a little petty revenge, even if neither of them would ever find out about it.
Something told me Phrixus felt the same way.
"Whoa," I said, grabbing the counter behind me as he pulled away and slipped his hands up my thighs below my skirt. "What are you doing?"
He stopped and glanced up at me. "Sorry, I thought you were into it."
"Into what, exactly?" I asked, wanting to clarify before we moved forward.
He shrugged, but the heat in his gaze suggested his intent was less casual than he was letting on. "You seemed to enjoy what I was doing with my tongue."
My face grew warm as his intentions became clear, but it was nothing compared to the heat further down. "Yeah. Uh. Sure."
"Sure?" he echoed, his eyes dancing with amusement. "That's by far the least enthusiastic response I've ever received to offering to go down on a girl."
I rolled my eyes, leaning back against the wall. "What do you want, a gilded invite?"
With a smirk, he disappeared between my legs and when his tongue swept across my clit, it was all I could do not to gasp. I was sure he'd just love that. He draped my legs over his shoulders as he claimed the heat between my legs, worshiping me with each caress of his tongue. Before long, I'd given up on trying not to make a sound and settled not for moaning loudly enough that it would call attention to us. I gripped the counter above me for support and muttered a slew of curses under my breath as he apologized far more effectively without words than with them.
"Fuck," I gasped as the first orgasm I'd had in months swept over me like a tidal wave, making my toes curl and my thighs tremble as they gripped the god between them. Phrixus went from sucking hungrily on my clit to tiny, torturous little strokes with his tongue as my orgasm subsided that left me all the more breathless.
When he finally raised his head, his gaze was still glowing with amusement, but there was something else, too. If I'd been in a less pleasure-addled state of mind, I might have been able to sort out what it was, but the door opened and reality came crashing down around us. I turned my attention from the man between my thighs to the one at the door and found myself hoping it was Thor coming to check on us. At least that would have been the kind of humiliation I could laugh at a few years down the line.
Instead, I found myself face to face with Hades, and if I'd thought he hated me before, the look in his eyes just proved that I hadn't seen anything yet.
16
Hades
When I received word that Helle and Phrixus' suspension had finally been lifted, I'd gone to the Headmaster in an admittedly less than pleasant mood. The "accident" was obviously intentional, but Odin insisted that a suspension was more than enough to punish the guilty parties for their "recklessness."
His words were still eating away at me hours after our impromptu meeting, AKA me barging into his office.
"The Wild Hunt is this school's longest-standing tradition, and this year marks the first time that it's gotten out of hand," he'd said in a scolding tone as he stared at me from across his big wooden desk with a roaring lion's head mounted on the wall behind him. "If you're having difficulty managing your responsibilities, perhaps they would be better off handed to someone else."
I'd stormed out of his office with a chip on my shoulder, but there wasn't much even I could say to the old man without risking my father's wrath. Odin was one of the few untouchables, even though he bended knee to my father when the rare occasion called for it. He was the one who'd been tasked with ensuring that I stayed in line, even though he'd never come out and admit as much. I knew Loki's initial offer of friendship had been nothing more than a reconnaissance mission, and it had only turned into something genuine because he'd admitted as much to me.
I had to tread carefully where Odin was concer
ned, which meant taking matters of punishment into my own hands. I wanted Kore humiliated and broken spiritually, not physically, and anyone who dared to lay a hand on what was mine was going to pay the price.
I'd learned through my many eyes throughout the academy that Kore and Phrixus had lost that day's training, which meant Thor would've assigned them both to kitchen duty. It was the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. I'd walk in, give Phrixus the scare of his life, and Kore would learn that there was as much reason to long for my protection as there was to fear my hatred.
Loki's words, much like his father's, had lingered in my mind, albeit for a different reason.
Maybe he was right. I hadn't wanted this engagement any more than she had, even if she was intent on making it obvious. But like it or not, Kore was still going to be my Queen, and the one source of companionship during our long stints in the Underworld.
I knew the hell of isolation first hand, and despite what Sartre said, hell wasn't other people. It was being alone with yourself.
Besides, it had been almost three weeks and surely by now she'd gotten enough of a taste of being the object of my ire. All I had to do was step in, play the hero, and she'd wilt before me. The tough girl routine was just that--an act. Every goddess had her limits--and her price. She'd proven herself interesting enough by resisting my efforts to break her to be worthy of a second chance, once she properly apologized.
I walked into that kitchen ready to make amends. And then I saw that white-haired prick between her legs, and all my benevolence turned to wrath.
"Hades," Phrixus sputtered, straightening up in record time. Kore hopped down from the counter and tugged her skirt down a bit less anxiously, a defiant look in her eyes even though her cheeks had the good sense to show her shame.
My anger churned like a black sea within, but I refused to give her the pleasure of unleashing it on him the way I wanted to. She was watching me closely, I could feel it, even though all I could see was red, painted on Phrixus’ head like a bullseye. For the first time since I was a young teenager, I could feel myself in danger of losing control and I had to reign it in. There was no putting the hellfire back in its bottle once it was unleashed, and as smug and unapologetic as the goddess standing before me was, she was nowhere near as prepared to feel its wrath as she seemed to think.
